With a dramatic flourish, Lockhart whipped the cover away and announced, "Yes, freshly caught Cornish pixies!" Inside the cage were tiny winged humanoid creatures in a bright electric blue, with sharp little faces and shrill voices that sounded like a flock of parakeets having an argument. The moment the cloth came off and light hit them, they immediately turned wild and frantic, staring at the students with chaotic energy. Seamus Finnigan could not hold back his laughter any longer, and Lockhart immediately fixed on him. "Yes?" he asked. "Well, they aren't really dangerous at all, are they?" Seamus said, clearly thinking the whole thing was a joke. "I wouldn't be so certain of that," Lockhart replied with a smug smile.
"Devilish little fiends they can be! Alright then, let's see what all of you make of them!" he declared loudly, and then made the catastrophic mistake of opening the cage and releasing them. The pixies exploded out at once and instantly began wreaking havoc all over the classroom. Julian calmly flicked his wand. "PROTEGO!" A shield dome sprang up over his classmates, though he deliberately left Lockhart outside it. It only took a few pixies slamming into the barrier to realize the students were protected, and then all of their malicious attention shifted squarely onto Lockhart.
Julian had to give the man some credit for at least trying to cast his ridiculous pixie-banishing spell before the creatures yanked his wand out of his hand and hurled it through the window, then immediately set about tormenting him. A few of his fangirls tried to help, but all that accomplished was getting themselves attacked too once Julian withdrew the shield from around them specifically. Adjusting the general shape of a shield charm was easy enough, since the incantation only governed the function of the spell and said nothing at all about what form it had to take.
Julian watched with a perfectly calm expression as Lockhart had his hair yanked, burned, and hacked at by the pixies, who even used a candle on it. They shoved quills up his nose and yanked his trousers down in front of the entire class, revealing boxers covered in his own face. Once the bell rang to dismiss them, Julian was the first one out of the room, since he and Harry had been sitting at the back near the door. The rest of their classmates hurried after them as quickly as they could while the shield began flickering dangerously now that Julian was no longer feeding it magic.
The shield held until the very moment the classroom door shut behind the last student, trapping the pixies inside with Lockhart and his fangirls. Ron was grinning from ear to ear. "That was bloody brilliant, mate! But what did you mean about it not happening again?" he asked curiously. "Hmm? Oh, that. I was planning to arrange detention during his class for the rest of the year. Haven't worked out which teacher to ask yet, though. Any suggestions?" Julian answered casually. Every one of his friends, along with the people nearby who overheard him, stared at him in stunned silence. While most people tried to avoid detention, he was planning to use it as an excuse to skip Lockhart entirely.
"That's genius! Why don't we all do that too?" Tracy asked eagerly. Julian shook his head. "The only people here who could maybe get away with it are Hermione and me, since we're already ahead of the rest of the class enough that, strictly speaking, we don't actually need to attend his lessons," he explained honestly, which left the others looking crushed. "I, for one, think that would be rude to Professor Lockhart, and I won't be doing it," Hermione said in obvious disapproval. Julian shrugged. "Suit yourself, but the option remains open," he said, unconcerned.
Julian kept talking with his friends for a while longer, and together they all settled on Flitwick as the best teacher to approach for this scheme. Once he split off from them to go discuss it, Julian headed up to the third floor past his workshop and knocked on the professor's office door. It opened by itself, revealing Flitwick seated at his desk sorting through papers from his other classes. The half-goblin looked up, spotted Julian, and smiled. "Julian, good to see you. What can I do for you today?" he asked curiously.
Julian grinned. "This may sound a little strange, but I need you to give me detention for the rest of the year," he said, laughing when Flitwick looked utterly baffled. "More specifically, a sort of detention that just so happens to overlap with Defense Against the Dark Arts," Julian added. Flitwick sighed. "So the fool has already gotten on your nerves, I see. Go on then, tell me what he did that was so bad," the small professor said tiredly, not even rejecting the idea outright the way he normally would.